Ernest Hemingway Soldier's Home Essay

A Response to Soldier’s Home

The story “Soldier’s Home,” written by Ernest Hemmingway, is about a young man, Harold Krebs, returning to his small hometown in Oklahoma following World War I. Hemmingway opens the story just as Krebs leaves his Methodist college in Kansas to enlist in the Marines in 1917. He does not return home until two years later in the summer of 1919. Krebs does not get to return home with the first group of soldiers. By the time that Krebs returns home, the heroes’ welcome is over, everyone has moved on from the war and the townspeople have returned to their normal routine. Krebs was not greeted with excitement or celebration, instead most thought it was rather absurd he was returning so long after the war had ended. Krebs

does not want to talk to anyone about the war at first and cannot find anyone that will listen, once he feels like he needs to talk. Krebs resolves to keep to himself and avoids anything that will cause any conflict or complications in his new life.
Most of the conflict in this story is an internal conflict. Krebs finds it difficult to make any significant connections with anyone at home. He spends most of his days by himself with multiple, small activities to keep himself occupied without having to commit to anything or anyone. Krebs does make routine trips out of the house to the library, pool hall, and downtown, but struggles to connect with anyone he meets while out. He tries to talk to people but finds no one is interested in his stories unless he is lying or exaggerating his experiences while at war. Lying and exaggerating though, are not something Krebs is willing to do. As Hemmingway puts it, “Krebs acquired the nausea in regard to experience that is the result of untruth or exaggeration…” (Hemmingway 167). The act of lying, in order to get people to listen, made Krebs sick to his stomach. Therefore, he stopped trying to talk to anyone about the war because he knew they did not want to hear the truth.
Krebs also had conflict with himself when he saw the girls in town. Hemmingway writes about Krebs and his fascination with the girls he sees as they walk down the street. The young girls in town had grown up but nothing else had changed. Krebs had some interest in the girls he saw but thinks they are complicated with their established alliances and everchanging fueds. Krebs does not feel that he has the energy or courage to approach them and be part of their seemingly complicated lifestyle. They were attractive though and Krebs liked to look at them as they walked on the other side of the street. He liked the way they dressed and the way they walked from a distance. Whenever he saw them in town, the girls lost their appeal. Krebs found them complicated, and he wasn’t willing to work or purse them. He only wanted to be alone without any consequences (Hemmingway 167).
Not all of the conflict in “Soldier’s Home is Krebs with himself.

There is also conflict between Krebs and his family. Regardless of how the rest of the town felt, Krebs was still a hero to his younger sisters. His mother would have done anything for him, even breakfast in bed. She was concerned for her son and often asked for him to tell her about the war, although she never really listened. In Krebs’ family his father was the only one that never seemed to be around (Hemmingway 167). It seems Krebs’ family were the only ones he had any kind of connection with, but Krebs’ struggled just as much to talk to them as he did everyone else in town. He seems to have a good relationship with his sister, Helen, and thinks of her as, “his best sister” (Hemmingway 168). Helen has probably what is the best conversation with Krebs at breakfast one morning. Helen tells Krebs about her indoor softball game at school, later that day, and invites him to come. Helen asks Krebs if he loves her and Krebs replies with a less than enthusiastic, “Uh, huh.” Krebs is still unable to commit to going to Helen’s game though (Hemmingway

169).
The most significant external conflict Krebs has is with his mother.

His mother has worried about him since he returned home, but she remained silent for the first month. One day while Krebs was eating breakfast, his mother finally confronted him. “Have you decided what you are going to do yet, Harold?” she asked. Followed by, “Don’t you think its about time?” (Hemmingway 169). Krebs could not give an answer though, just that he had not thought about it. His mother goes on to tell Krebs how much she had worried about him and that she has been praying for him. Krebs does not respond and instead he only, “looked at the bacon fat hardening on his plate.” (Hemmingway 170). Krebs had been changed by the war and could not even say that he loved his own mother. His mother begins to cry and Krebs lies to her saying, “I was just angry at something. I didn’t mean I didn’t love you.” (Hemmingway 170). Krebs pleads with his mother to believe him and she does. Krebs tells her that he will, “be a good boy.” (Hemmingway

170).
Krebs is unable to actually resolve any of the conflict within the story. He lies to his mother at the end and again feels sick and nauseated for doing so. His mother had confronted him about her worries and his lack of direction but Krebs was unaffected by her pouring out of emotions. Krebs did feel sorry for his mother but thought she had caused him to lie in order to protect her feelings. Krebs’ solution to his conflict with his mother is to leave and move to Kansas City. He does finally plan to get a job and thinks maybe he could make his mother happy that way. Krebs is still worried that there may be one more conflict with his mother before he is able to get away for good though. Hemmingway writes, “ He wanted his life to go smoothly. It had just gotten going that way. Well, that was all over now anyway.” (Hemmingway 171). Krebs was motivated only by his desire to keep his life from being complicated. His mother had made that impossible though by being honest with him.